Democrat John Ewing accused incumbent Republican Lee Terry of lying and taking credit for authoring an energy bill in 2007.

The KETV NewsWatch 7 I-Team examined Terry’s claims of authorship.

The 30-second ad begins with a narrator saying, “Congressman Lee Terry authored the bipartisan law that helps move America to energy independence.”

Terry’s campaign manager said the ad concerns the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

One of the critical pieces of legislation adopted was a new fuel economy standard. By 2020, the law said new cars sold in America need to average 35 miles per gallon.

While Terry voted in favor of the law, the House of Representatives record indicated that he was not the author of the original 2007 House bill. He wasn’t one of the 198 cosponsors either.

Terry was, in fact, a cosponsor and co-author of an amendment to the bill with then-Rep. Baron Hill from Indiana. The congressmen introduced the amendment six months after the energy bill was introduced by a congressman from West Virginia.

The “Hill-Terry” amendment never advanced out of committee.

The amendment called for a proposed average fuel economy of not less than 32 miles per gallon and not greater than 35 miles per gallon by 2022.

The House of Representatives eventually adopted slightly tougher provisions, which had been passed by the Senate -- the 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Given the history of the legislation, Ewing said Terry’s television ad is not truthful.

“I think what we have to look at this. This is Lee Terry’s staff, and Lee Terry, are trying to take credit for historic legislation,” Ewing said.

Terry’s campaign manager, Dave Boomer, said even though Terry’s once-proposed amendment died, the amendment’s fuel economy numbers still carried over to the final legislation.

“Hill-Terry always involved raising (fuel) standards from 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon, that’s the bottom line,” Boomer said.

He said it's true even though the target years to reach new fuel economy goals -- 2020 in the final law, and 2022 in Terry’s bill -- did not match.

“It’s irrelevant when you would hit that total. It’s just getting there,” Boomer said.

As for Terry’s assertion that he “authored” the bipartisan Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the I-Team analyzed the definition of “author” as defined by the National Conference of State Legislature.

The organization said an author is “the person (usually a legislator) who presents a bill or resolution for consideration; may be joined by others, who are known as co-authors.”

Terry coauthored an amendment, and it had a broader timeline for fuel mileage standards than the bill eventually passed by Congress.

To read more arguments from the Ewing campaign about Lee Terry’s ad, click here.

To read more documents in support of the ad, as provided by Terry’s campaign, click here.

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